WASHINGTON — Even as several
states move to restrict abortions,
the federal government is increasing
its support of elective abortions.
The latest effort in that vein came
from a Senate committee that voted to
reverse a 15-year ban on elective abortions
on military bases.

The mandate on the military to
provide elective abortions on military
bases worldwide — as long as the service
member paid for it — was narrowly
adopted by the Senate Armed
Services Committee as part of the
annual defense authorization bill.
The panel adopted the amendment by
15-12 in a closed-door session in late
May.

The vote was criticized for requiring
the use of taxpayer-funded personnel
and facilities for elective abortions.

“Regardless of their views on
whether abortion is ever justified, the
vast majority of Americans agree that
taxpayer dollars should not subsidize
such controversial procedures,” said
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in a written
statement. “Unfortunately, if the
provisions of the defense authorization
bill are allowed to stand, military
treatment facilities will become abortion
clinics built and operated at taxpayer
expense.”

Douglas Johnson, legislative
director of the National Right to Life
Committee, said pro-life advocates,
who plan to fight the measure as it
moves through Congress this summer
see it as a significant expansion
by the federal government into abortion.

“If they succeed, military hospitals
all over the world will become
abortion facilities,” Johnson said. “We
don’t think the federal government
ought to be in the business of running
abortion mills.”

The new measure would reverse a
1995 federal law that Republicans
enacted when they took control of
Congress. That ban on elective abortions
at military bases reversed an
executive order by President Bill
Clinton to allow the practice.

The proposed expansion in federal
support of elective abortion follows
on the heels of a controversial
decision by some pro-life Democrats
to support the massive health-care
overhaul enacted in the spring,
despite the refusal of Democratic
leaders to include a strong ban on the
use of federal taxpayer funds for elective
abortions. The defense-related
abortion measure is viewed by prolife
advocates as continuing the proabortion
policies advocated by Democratic
congressional leaders.

“This [amendment] is another
example of the congressional leadership
relentlessly pushing an expansion
of abortion,” Johnson said.

The Senate committee’s vote
came as several states moved to
tighten elective abortion regulations,
including the approval of bills in Florida
and Louisiana to require ultrasounds
before an abortion is allowed.

The fate of the Florida bill is uncertain,
as Gov. Charlie Christ, an Independent,
may veto it to appeal to liberal
voters in his Senate bid after he
left the Republican Party.

Conversely, the U.S. military has
expanded its abortion and birth-control
efforts over the last year. For
instance, in February, the military
began requiring all of its hospitals to
stock “emergency contraceptives”
such as Plan B, an abortifacient.

The Senate panel vote would
greatly expand that role to include
elective abortions unrelated to situations
where the life of the mother is
endangered, which is the only current
situation where abortion is allowed
on military bases.

The May 27 Senate committee
vote followed several previous
attempts in recent years to reverse the
elective abortion ban at military facilities.
But the latest effort is the first
attempt during President Obama’s
administration, who even some Democrats
describe as “a very pro-abortion
president.”

The Senate panel’s abortion addition
to the massive defense spending
bill did not get much attention at the
time because the legislation already
contains several other high-profile
and contentious elements, including a
repeal of the law banning homosexuals
from serving openly in the military.

Instrumental in the committee’s
three-vote margin to roll back the
elective abortion ban was the support
of four Democratic senators who are
Catholic: Claire McCaskill of Missouri,
Mark Begich of Alaska, Jack
Reed of Rhode Island and Ted
Kaufman of Delaware.

McCaskill, whose office did not
respond to a request for comment,
appears to be a particularly favored
ally of abortion advocates. Her leading
donor in the current election cycle
— by far — is Emily’s List, which
exclusively funds pro-abortion Democratic
women. The pro-abortion
organization contributed $523,538 to
McCaskill in the 2010 election cycle,
which was the vast majority of the
$808,299 she raised in that period,
according to Federal Election Commission
records.

“I’m not sure what she says on the
campaign trail, but we’ve always
regarded her as strongly pro-abort,”
said Johnson of National Right to Life.

Another Catholic on the committee
who supported the elective abortion
measure and also benefitted from
pro-abortion campaign support is
Begich, who netted $10,000 from
NARAL Pro-Choice America in the
current campaign cycle. Begich did
not release a statement on his vote,
but he was described as “a longtime
pro-choice supporter” by Julie Hasquet,
his press secretary.

“He doesn’t believe that [abortion]
is something that government should
get involved in,” Hasquet said.

When asked whether Begich’s
vote to require military physicians or
those hired by the military to perform
elective abortions increased government
involvement in abortion, Hasquet
requested further questions be
submitted in writing, to which she did
not respond.

The final Senate vote on the overall
defense bill is expected before
Congress’ August recess. If it is passed
with the elective abortion provision
included, pro-life advocates expect it
will be opposed by Rep. Ike Skelton,
D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee.

Laura Battles, press secretary for
the committee, declined to predict
what actions Skelton would take, but
noted that “throughout Mr. Skelton’s
career he has always been pro-life.”